Regulator valve



Jan. 2, 1968 J. J. TUREK 3,361,148

REGULATOR VALVE Filed NOV. 23, 1964 1 N VENTOR.

JOSEPH J. TUR EK ATT'YS United States Patent ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREA regulator valve for fire hose having means for restricting the openingof the valve which may be rendered ineffective, including an adjustablymounted stop and a breakaway member coacting with the stop.

This invention relates in general to a valve for controlling the fiow ofwater or other fluid, and more specifically to a valve for controllingthe Water pressure in a fire hose, and still more particularly to avalve for limiting the pressure in a fire hose and being capable ofenabling the pressure to be increased under special circumstances,although other uses and purposes may be apparent to one skilled in theart.

The valve of the present invention is primarily useful for fire hosecabinets used for fire protection in buildings, wherein the valve wouldhave piped thereto a supply of water under high pressure and would havea fire hose attached thereto for fire prevention purposes. Such firehose may be manned by the occupants of a building who are generallylaymen in fire protection methods, or the hose may be manned by firemenwho are skilled in fire prevention methods and fire fighting. Fire hosein the hands of inexperienced persons can be used somewhat elfectivelyif the water pressure is not too great, while experienced fire fightingpersons can use the same fire hose with greater water pressures. Thevalve of the present invention is provided with means which permits thevalve to be opened a predetermined amount so that the water pressuredoes not exceed the limits usable by inexperienced fire fightingpersonnel, which means can be rendered inelfective by experiencedpersonnel so that greater water pressures can be obtained from the samevalve. In particular, the valve of the present invention includes anadjusting ring on the bonnet coacting with a breakpin to regulate theoutput water pressure, and wherein the breakpin may be destroyed by asharp blow thereby enabling the valve to be further opened to providehigher output pressures. While valves of this general nature have beenheretofore developed and marketed, they have required such complex andexpensive components as to necessitate an unusually high marketing pricewhich limited the commercial acceptance.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide aregulator valve for controlling output pressures, but yet enabling theoutput pressure to be increased, and which valve can be inexpensivelymanufactured and economically marketed at a price acceptable to theconsumer trade.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedregulator valve for use in fire hose cabinets in buildings.

Still another object of the present invention resides in the provisionof a regulator valve for fire hose cabinets that is calibrated to permitquick and easy setting of a maximum pressure desired, and which can berendered operable to provide 'a greater pressure.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom the following detailed disclosure, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying sheet 3,361,148 Patented Jan. 2, 1968 of drawing, whereinlike reference numerals refer to like parts, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the valve according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken through the valve of FIG. 1,and showing some parts in elevation, and also showing some parts inphantom to illustrate movement;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along line 3-3of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view showing theassociation of the adjusting ring with the valve bonnet; and

FIG. 5 is a periphery drawing of the cylindrical portion of the bonnethaving indicia thereon.

Referring now to the drawings, the valve of the present inventionincludes generally a body 10, a bonnet 11 secured to the body, a stem 12movable in the bonnet, a closure member 13 within the body for closingthe valve, a hand wheel 14 for driving the stem 12, an adjusting ring 15on the bonnet 11, and a breakpin 16 for controlling the opening of thevalve.

The valve body 10 includes an inlet 17 and an outlet 18 at right anglesthereto. The inlet 17 is shown :for attaching thereto a male fitting,while the outlet 18 is shown for attaching thereto a female fitting, andit should be appreciated that this structure is only for purposes ofillustrating the invention, and where desired the valve may be revisedin accordance with the desired installation. Moreover, the outlet 18 isshown extending perpendicular to the inlet 17, wherein the valveillustrated is generally known as an angle valve, but it should beappreciated that the present invention may be employed with other typesof valves.

The bonnet 11 is arranged opposite the inlet 17 and is threadedlymounted on the body 111. The bonnet 11 is provided with an internalthread 19 for receiving the external threading 20 on the stem 12,whereby rotation of the stem 12 with respect to the valve and the bonnet11 causes the stem to axially move along the bonnet. Within the bonnetand at the upper end thereof, a wiper ring 21 is seated about the stem12 and held in place by a packing nut 22. The packing nut 22 isthreadedly received in the bonnet.

The lower end of the stem 12 is enlarged and provided with a radialflange 23 that is received within a disc holder 24 which is secured tothe stem by a lock nut 25 hearing on the upper end of the radial flange23. The disc holder is provided at the lower end with an annular recess26 for receiving a resilient ring 27 of rubber or the like that is heldin place by a washer nut 28 threadedly carried on the disc holder 24. Acap screw 29 further locks the Washer nut 28 in place. With the washernut in position, an annular valve seat engaging surface 27a of the ring27 is capable of seatingly engaging on an annular valve seat 30 formedat the inner end of the inlet 17. Thus, when the closure member 13 is inits seated position wherein the ring 27 sealing-ly engages the valveseat 30, the communication between the inlet 17 and the outlet 18 iscompletely shut oif and the valve is considered to be closed. As shownin FIG. 2, the closure member 13 is positioned away from the valve seat30 and therefore in at least the partially open position to provideintercommunic-ation within the valve body between the inlet 17 and theoutlet 18. With a given pressure at the inlet 17, it can be readilyappreciated that the pressure at the outlet 18 will depend upon theposition of the closure member 13 with respect to the valve seat 30, thepressure at the outlet being greatest when the closure member 13 is atits greatest distance from the valve seat 30.

The hand wheel 14 mounted at the upper end of the stem 12 is providedwith a hub 31 having a square bore 32 therein for receiving a squaredend 33 of the stem. A nut 34 is threaded on a threaded end of the stemto lock the hand wheel 14 in place. A plurality of radial arms 35 extendfrom the hub 31 and are secured at their outer ends to an annular ring36. Thus grasping of the hand wheel 14 and rotating same will causeaxial movement of the stem 12 within the bonnet 11 to open and close thevalve. The hand wheel 14 extends substantially perpendicular to the stem12 and is provided along one of the arms and adjacent the outer ring 36with a downwardly extending boss 37 having a socket 38 therein.

The breakpin 16 is received within the socket 38 of the hand wheel boss37 and secured in place by a setscrew 39. The breakpin 16 is cylindricalin shape and provided at its lower end with a radial flange 40, andintermediate its ends with a weakened portion 41 that is defined by anannular groove. The breakpin 16 is preferably constructed of cast ironso that it can be broken by a sharp blow, and wherein it will mostlikely fracture at the weakened portion 41.

The breakpin flange 40 has an upper substantially horizontally extendingsurface 40a that coacts with a substantially horizontally extendinglower surface 15a of the adjusting ring 15 in limiting the upward axialmovement of the stem 12. The embodiment shown illustrates a breakpinthat extends substantially parallel to the stem 12, but it should beappreciated that the breakpin may be arranged angularly thereto if sodesired. Further, the engaging surfaces 40a and 15a might be angularlyrelated to the stem 12, that is, at an angle of less than or greaterthan 90. The adjusting ring 15 is shown to be rectangular in crosssection, but it should be appreciated that it may be otherwise shaped.

The adjusting ring 15 is made to be slidably moved along a cylindricalportion 42 of the bonnet 11. The fit between the adjusting ring and thecylindrical portion is preferably quite close to permit an accuratepositioning of the adjusting ring for providing an accurate adjustmentof the valve and ultimate maximum pressure at the outlet 18. Therefore,the surface of the cylindrical portion 42 would probably be machined aswell as the engaging surface of the adjusting ring 15. In order to lockthe adjusting ring 15 to the bonnet 11 along the cylindrical portion 42,a plurality of setscrews 43 are provided to engage in axially extendinggrooves 44 formed along the cylindrical portion 42. In the embodimentillustrated, four setscrews 43 are provided, spaced 90 apart on theadjusting ring for engagement in the grooves 44 that are spaced 15 apartalong the cylindrical portion 42.

In order to determine the position of the adjusting ring 15 on thecylindrical portion 42, indicia 45 is provided on the cylindricalportion 42. In the embodiment illustrated, this indicia 45 comprisesnumerals which are arranged between the grooves 44 and along thecylindrical surface. The numerals are further arranged 45 apart on sixpitch lead, and therefore helically arranged around the cylindricalportion 42. In this instance, the numerals are from to 25 and incalibrated positions. The adjusting ring is provided with a window 46defined by a bore extending through the ring and which is so related tothe adjusting ring 15 and the graduations on the cylindrical portion 42that setting of the adjusting ring to any numeral will provide an outputpressure at the outlet 18 in accordance with the known inlet pressure atthe inlet 17 to the valve. The window 46 is circumferentially arrangedrelative to the setscrews 43 so that the window will always show anumeral between the grooves 44 as long as the adjusting ring 15 is inthe area of the graduations along the cylindrical portion 42.

In operation, wherein the valve of the present invention is employed ina fire hose cabinet, connected to a source of water supply at a certainpressure and to a fire hose, the adjusting ring will be set to provide adesired pressure for inexperienced fire fighters upon opening of thevalve until the fiange engages the adjusting ring 15 and prevents thefurther opening of the valve. Thereafter, if experienced fire fightersare desirous of using the fire hose attached to the valve and aredesirous of increasing the pressure, they need only to render a sharpblow to the breakpin 16 to fracture same and thereby allow the valve tobe further opened by operation of the hand wheel 14. Thereafter, thevalve may be further used by merely replacing the breakpin 16.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effectedwithout departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the presentinvention, but it is understood that this application is to be limitedonly by the scope of the appended claims.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. In a regulator valve for fire hose including, a body having an inlet,an outlet and a bonnet, a stern threadedly received by said bonnet andthereby rotatably and axially movable therein, a valve seat within thebody, a valve closure member carried by said stem within said body andcoacting with said valve seat to regulate flow through the valve betweenthe inlet and outlet, and handwheel means on the outer free end of thestem outside the body for facilitating opening and closing of the valve,means for restricting the opening of the valve which may be renderedineffective, said restr'cting means comprising a ring adjustably mountedon said bonnet selectively movable toward and away from said handwheelmeans and having a stop face, and a breakable member extending from saidhandwheel means having a stop face for matingly engaging the stop faceof said ring and preventing further turning of said stem and handwheelmeans toward opening of said valve unless a predetermined pressure isapplied to cause breaking of said breakable member.

2. In a regulator valve as defined in claim 1, and calibrated indiciacircumferentially and helically arranged on said bonnet, and means onsaid ring coacting with the indicia for adjusting the position of thering.

3. In a regulator valve as defined in claim 2, wherein said means onsaid ring includes a window for alignment with the indicia.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,854,837 4/1932 Hansen 137-68 X1,936,301 11/1933 Hansen et al 2Sl285 X 3,139,262 6/1964 Morris et al.251205 2,239,842 4/1941 Evans 116-125 2,908,288 10/1959 Carr et al.13754O ALAN COHAN, Primary Examiner.

D. R. MATTHEWS, Assistant Examiner.

